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Super League side have “money” to spend but have to find players “who actually want to come”

Castleford Tigers recruitment is key for right now but also moving forward into 2024.

The club have confirmed numerous times that they are in the market for immediate signings given the exits of Daniel Smith and Adam Milner but have yet to get anything over the line.

Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds, Andy Last confirmed they have the money to spend but haven’t yet found players who “actually want to come.”

“Obviously, you’re making offers to players and identifying players. But like I said last week, you can have the money available to you, you can identify the player, but they’ve got to actually want to come. That’s the process which most clubs are going through at the moment. We’re just one of 12 clubs who are in the same boat,” he said.

Last also explained that Niall Evalds is headed for the exit door as a move to Hull KR looms:

“Yeah, it’s a tough one with Niall. We haven’t seen the best of him in the two years that I’ve obviously been on board from a first team coaching point of view.

“We’re not in a position at this moment to make him an offer because he’s not playing. We need to make sure that we cut our cost accordingly and spend our budget wisely.

“At the moment, the fact that he’s not playing makes it difficult to really put a strong case to say, right, we’re definitely going to make this amount of money available to him from a signing point of view. So, it’s tough.

“When those contracts are given out and you go past that deadline, all the teams are able to inquire and make offers to them. Some teams may be afforded a little bit more budget than we’ve got.

“Niall is a good player and a good kid. Unfortunately, we haven’t quite seen the best of him. It makes it difficult to really stake a claim and say, right, we’re going to invest X amount into this player when he hasn’t been able to get on the field.

“It’s a challenge, but that’s the nature of obviously this open window in terms of recruitment.”

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